Carbon limited/bio media/nitrifying bacteria...

tiggertoe · Jan 9, 2023

Hey all... well straigh tto the piont, several months ago, i sent a ICP test away, coz of me having 0 No3 and 0 po4... ICP test saying i have carbon limited, so FF to now ( about 3 months on) i have taken out my bio filter, and cheato, have been using ATI's Nutrition C:N: P to try and get my levels up ( but used reef roids to up the po4) ... From my understanding, Im dosing the carbon to accelerated growth of bacterioplankton... Now as I start to replenish and accelerate the growth of the bacteria, *** My question, should i be putting back either bio balls/bricks/plates or cheato back into my sump for the bacteria to grow in???

Dan_P · Jan 9, 2023

tiggertoe said:
Hey all... well straigh tto the piont, several months ago, i sent a ICP test away, coz of me having 0 No3 and 0 po4... ICP test saying i have carbon limited, so FF to now ( about 3 months on) i have taken out my bio filter, and cheato, have been using ATI's Nutrition C:N: P to try and get my levels up ( but used reef roids to up the po4) ... From my understanding, Im dosing the carbon to accelerated growth of bacterioplankton... Now as I start to replenish and accelerate the growth of the bacteria, *** My question, should i be putting back either bio balls/bricks/plates or cheato back into my sump for the bacteria to grow in???

I’m a but confused. An ICP test does not measure organic carbon. Was another test run in addition to the ICP?

tiggertoe · Jan 9, 2023

just my normal test kits/checkers... my kits were telling me of 0 No3 and 0 po4... and have been struggling to get them up... i have been dosing nitrates... with no luck, have been feeding heavier, and have actually gotten more fish, and still No3 was 0.0... so I done the 2 ICP's test triton labs offer, and well they came back with carbon limited...

Triton Lab.... N-DOC Lab Testing...Deliver insights into complex organic systems in seawater: Carbon and Nitrogen

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 10, 2023

All reef tanks should be organic carbon limited, and will be unless something else is very, very low, such as nitrate, phosphate, or certain trace elements.

In essence what that means is if you add a readily metabolized organic molecule such as acetate, something will consume it and grow. That is normal and appropriate and is certainly true in the ocean.

I suggest ignoring the misleading comments that Brightwell makes about this. I’m not sure what point Triton is trying to make. But I’d ignore it to.